Percoco, former top aide to Cuomo, starts serving his prison sentence

ALBANY – In state government, Joseph Percoco had many official and unofficial titles over the years. Right-hand man to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo was the constant.

On Friday morning, Percoco got a new title: Inmate Number 78132-054.

The former top government, political and personal adviser to Cuomo, whom the governor once likened as a brother, reported to Otisville federal prison in Orange County Thursday to begin serving a six-year sentence he received in his 2018 corruption conviction.

On Friday morning, the Federal Bureau of Prisons updated its inmate locater page to include Percoco as a member of its system.

Percoco already knows one inmate at the facility: Dean Skelos. Skelos is the former state Senate Majority Leader who reported to Otisville in January on his own separate corruption conviction.

Michael Cohen, President Trump’s former personal lawyer, is also expected to start serving his sentence soon at Otisville after his recent conviction on tax fraud, lying to banks and violating campaign laws.

Percoco had sought to stay out of prison while he appeals his conviction last year, which involved a scheme in which he received more than $300,000 in bribes from two companies in return for promising to use his powerful position to help them with matters before the state.

A federal appeals court recently rejected Percoco’s stay-out-of-prison bid and ordered him to surrender by Thursday.